Austrian Horse Power

 

It's a dramatic moment that could easily be mistaken for a storyboard scene from an action movie. A squad of cavalrymen, actually hussars, chase after a huge airship soaring in the sky. The lead officer leader exclaims, "So leicht ist Zeppelin nicht zu fassen." ~ "A Zeppelin isn't that easy to catch." The horses look like they still want to try.

The artist of this postcard is Fritz Schönpflug (1873–1951), an Austrian postcard illustrator whose clever work I have enjoyed collecting for many years. I was originally attracted to his colorful and amusing caricatures of the people living in his native city of Wien (Vienna) during the final years of the Hapsburg Empire. But I soon discovered his postcards covered a much wider range of subjects than just quirky people. 

This spirited drawing was created in 1909 as indicated by the number 909 under Schönpflug's signature. It bears a striking similarity to another postcard by a different artist that I featured earlier this year in The Art of War – Aerial Assaults, part 1. 

In this thrilling painting by Anton Hoffmann (1863–1938), a painter and commercial artist from München, a half dozen horsemen of the 2nd Silesian Hussars Regiment, a distinguished cavalry unit of the Prussian Army, gallop after a Zeppelin that flies in the distance. My research found that this postcard was produced in 1913 as a benefit for a foundation sponsored by Germany's Crown Prince and Crown Princess. So it would seem that Schönpflug's 1909 sketch, which I believe depicts the same gallant Silesian regiment, inspired Hoffman's 1913 painting. 

Both pictures capture a thrilling moment when the time-honored military force of a cavalry encounters the new modern age of war machines. But what makes both pictures exciting is the way each artist portrays the movement of horses. Schönpflug was particularly skilled at drawing horses, which I've featured before, such as his carriage horses in Getting Around Old Wien part 3, and race horses in Horse Racing in Old Wien. Today I present some of Fritz Schönpflug's caricatures of horses and soldiers.

In this picture a group of German field artillerymen race up a hillside on horseback. Schönpflug expected his patrons to recognize that the soldiers were German by their leather Pickelhaube helmets, and that they were artillery because their hats were capped with a round knob instead of a sharp spike. The lead officer on a white horse shouts to one gunner, "Mensch, halt' dich Feste!" ~ "Man, hold on tight!" The horses appear to levitate with all four hooves above the ground. The officer's horse gives the impression it is thrilled to be given free rein to gallop at full speed. 

This card was never posted but Schönpflug's signature includes 909 for 1909. 

 In this picture a cavalry officer on horseback writes a message as cannons fire just beyond him. The officer is an Austrian dragoon signified by his light-blue tunic and tall crested helmet. His horse, not surprisingly, is alarmed at their position. The caption reads, "Aufklärungsdienst." ~ "Intelligence service." The subtle joke, of course, is that the officer's smartness is questionable when his horse knows they should not be so close to the field guns. 

This card was posted from Wien on 17 March 1912.

Schönpflug's human characters are sketched in a cartoon style with expressions that make us laugh at their foibles or foolishness. But his horses are not just stage props or animal figures in the background. He drew horses  carefully to show their natural strength and beauty. Yet a closer look reveals how Schönpflug gives each horse a personality that is reacting to the silly moment that he is illustrating.      

In this era many more horses were used as common draft animals than as gallant cavalry steads. And soldiers needed training to learn to drive wagons pulled by teams of horses. In this picture we see a soldier trying ineptly to control his runaway wagon. The pair of horses look to be having some fun exerting their full power. The caption reads:  "Der Herrenfahrer." ~ "The Gentleman Driver."

This card was never posted but Schönpflug's signature has 908 for 1908.

In this painting we see another collision between old military conventions and  the modern machine. An officer's horse is suddenly startled by the sight and sound of an automobile bringing army couriers with a message. The caption reads: "Feindliche Pferdekräfte." ~ "Hostile Horsepower." The joke is that sometimes the worst threat can come from someone on your own side. The horse appears genuinely insulted by this mechanical menace. 

This card was also never posted but has 909 next to Schönpflug's signature. All of his postcards were published in a series of six or eight different cards each  connected by a theme like these pictures of army maneuvers. Schönpflug was especially careful to get military uniforms correct because I think he sold a lot of postcards to soldiers. The brilliant colors of his pictures was another reason I was attracted to his artwork. Until I saw his postcards I never appreciated the difference between Prussian blue and Austria blue, since that is a distinction hidden in black and white photographs. 

My last postcard shows a wild cavalry charge by Austrian, or possibly Hungarian, cavalrymen. But they attack a field of geese and pigs! The caption reads: "Durch dick und dünn!" ~ "Through thick and thin!" The horses look a bit unsettled to be partaking in this unfair assault on defenseless livestock. 

The card has a postmark of 23 January 1911 from some place in Austria. The sender has used every available space on the front and back for their message. I wonder if putting the stamp of Kaiser Franz Joseph upside down coveys some secret message or political statement. 

I greatly admire how talented artists like Schönpflug were able to depict moments that in his time were impossible for photography to show. His artist eye caught all manner of funny human conceits but I think he depicts horses with a higher level of respect, showing us their natural nobility and steadfast virtues. You can see it in their eyes.  

There are many more postcards
of Fritz Schönpflug's horses in my collection
which I expect will be introduced
whenever I get stuck for an idea to write about. 

For the full list of my stories 
on Schönpflug's art

click this <link>.

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday

where the best road trips
are never the adventure we expect.

 

In the Saddle

 This gentle giant was named Bob.
He was the horsepower at the Shaw family farm
where he posed for the camera in August 1922.
The farm was near Pomfret, Maryland
on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay,
where Bob's main chore was hauling wagons filled with tobacco.

Riding sideways is Blanche Shaw who is age 14,
Leading Bob is her cousin Loretta McGinness
and behind on the sledge
are her two younger sisters Edna and Edith Shaw.
Many years latter I would recognize Blanche's shy smile
as Grandma, my mother's mother.

This was a very patient, painted pony.
It's name was Sally
and it was 1935
as notated by the photographer
on the stirrup.

The little girl with the Shirley Temple curls
 is not yet five years old.

I can see in her smile
that she is excited and thrilled
to meet this new animal friend,
even though her legs are not long enough
for her feet to fit into the stirrups,
much less attempt any barrel racing.
It's a picture of my mom,
Barbara Dobbin. 

According to my dad's notes on the print

which he made from a scan many years latter,
the photo was taken, without her parent's permission,
in Glenwood, Minnesota as a gift 
for her grandfather, William Dobbin
who lived there.
He must have loved this photo
as much as I love it too.

This gallant steed was also very patient
though he was inclined to buck
when given a spur.
His name was Horsey.

The rider is just age two 
and to judge by his expression
he is not thrilled to be in the saddle.

The trainer helpfully restraining Horsey
from any sudden twist or spring 
is my dad, then Lieutenant Russ Brubaker,
who was in the army but not in the cavalry.
The worried jockey is me, my younger self.

Today Horsey sleeps
in a dusty pasture up in our attic.
It's quiet there,
with a few stuffed dogs and raggedy bears
to keep him company.

Every few years

he gets a rubdown
and an inspection of his stall. 
He looks smaller than I remember.

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday

where donkey's years are very, very long.

Up the Hill, Down the Vale

 

In olden times
horsepower was measured 
by teams of four-footed steeds.
Fueled by hay, barley and oats,
horses once provided people
with dependable transportation
pulling wagons and coaches
over impressive distances
and sometimes challenging terrain.

In our modern times
horsepower has come to mean
something different,
a number defined by engine size
and noxious fuels.
Motorized wagons and coaches
can now carry people farther and faster.
Yet the thrill of travel
still comes down to geography.

Today I present a trip to a remote and exotic place
that has always attracted visitors curious about
its beautiful scenery and warm hospitality,
and one especially steep road.

This colorized postcard shows the Lynton & Minehead Coach at the Ship Inn in Porlock, England. Four white horses are hitched to a handsome stagecoach with at least ten, maybe twelve passengers perched on top. They are stopped outside a celebrated coaching inn at the small village of Porlock in Somerset, England situated on the southern coast of the Bristol Channel. It is about 1½ miles from the sea, though a thousand years ago it was right on the water. The village is about 17 miles east of Lynton and 6 miles west of Minehead. 

I found this postcard when I was looking for another card to add to an order from a postcard seller in Britain. I've always been fascinated by how people used to travel before the age of the automobile and photo postcards of British horse-drawn coaches are not common to find from American postcard dealers. As I soon discovered though, there are hundreds of similar postcards of Porlock's Ship Inn that are all nearly nearly identical except for the the color of the horses. For centuries the narrow road outside the inn has forced photographers to stand in about the same place in order to fit the coach and horse in the camera frame.

This postcard was sent from Weston-super-Mare on 16 October 1907 at 9:15 PM.

Just to wish you a

very happy birthday

&   many of them

Love from

        Mab

The Shipp Inn is situated on the A39, the main road into and out of the village. Unseen behind the photographer, the landscape ascends to Exmoor, a hilly open moorland, now a national natural park, that covers much of west Somerset and north Devon in southwest England. The road to Lynton goes up Porlock Hill which is infamous as the steepest A-road in Britain, (the A signifies a primary roadway in the UK, B roads are minor and for local traffic.) From the Ship Inn the A39 climbs 1,300 ft (400 m) in less than 2 miles (3.2 km) with a gradient of 1 in 4 (25%) in many places. 

In this postcard's bird's eye view, we see a horse-drawn coach filled with people descending the hill. It looks like there are two wagons but I think they are linked together with the second one acting as a brake. The road takes a sharp bend at the bottom of the picture where there is a small space for an emergency pullout. 

This card was sent from Porlock on 26 October 1910 at 7 AM.

                                    I am so awfully sorry we
                        have missed the post this
                        morning.  We forgot to post
                        the letters last night.  How
                        dreadfully sad about poor
                        old Mr Spence  I am so very very
                        sorry a for her too it will
                        be awful for her they were so much
                        to one another.  I am just going to 
                        write to her.  It is not very fine but
                        may clear up later.  Love from 
                                                H. L.

The Ship Inn is one of the oldest hostelries in England with a history going back to the 1400s at least. In earlier centuries it was sea routes and ships, not roads, that really connected people in the British Isles. Porlock, like many fishing villages along England's remote southwest coast, became known for its connection to smuggling and the Ship Inn often served as a haven for black market contraband. 

On this undated photo postcard a coach parked outside the Ship Inn is hitched to six dark horses. The trip from Lynton to Porlock only needed four horses, but for a return going up Porlock Hill, an extra pair was required. Notice the boy, the postillion, astride the front left horse. Even a good driver needed help handling that kind of horse power. To accommodate these coach horses the Ship Inn had a suitably large stable.

This next colorized photo has a coach with four bay horses arriving at Ship Inn. To the right is the stable's hostler ready with a step ladder for passengers to use. There are at least four outside benches atop the coach that look to be between 9 to 12 feet above the dirt road. I don't think there were seat belts. The coach also has an enclosed compartment that presumably was for first class and surely cost extra. 

This card has a postmark of 17 November 1905 at 10 PM from Taunton, Somerset.

Have I ever sent you

this before. Isn't 

it sweet.  It is the

coach we rode on

to Lynton.  Passed

this inn on the 

(?)day.  bid the lo46-

(?)arrone.. Sorry not

have sent it before

                Olive

In the early 19th century more visitors came to Porlock for holidays on the coast or for hunting trips on Exmoor. The road from Lynton to Porlock, that later  became the A39, was first opened in 1843 but the steep hill must have been a deterrent to many tourists and the commercial trade so a few years later an enterprising local landowner decided to build an alternate road and charge a toll. This 4.2-mile scenic route, which offers panoramic views of Bristol Channel, has a lower gradient of 1 in 14 (7%). Surprisingly after it was built most horse-drawn wagons used Porlock Hill instead since it was free. However once motorcars became the new horseless carriages, the toll road proved a good deal as most early automobiles were too underpowered for Porlock Hill's steeper slope.

In this illustration three automobiles and a charabanc, an open-top motor coach for tourists, creep up or careen down Porlock Hill. The road appears to be unpaved with a dirt or gravel surface. The postcard has no postmark but the car styles look early 1920s to me. 

Dear John,

    This is a "bend" on one

of the hills we had to push

our bicycles up.  When

we were at the bottom

an old country man told

us "It be moil–n–arf

long," but we 

had to plod

along for about

3–n–arf miles

before we could

remount the faithful

steeds.  We are at Lawrence's

cottage now and the weather

has brightened up.

It has been hot 

and sunny to-day

Love from us all   Sylvia

P.S.  Please keep these cards for the album.

_ _ _

In this next photo postcard of Porlock Hill a single motor coach with luggage strewn on its top drives up the slope and there are clearly ruts in the road. The hill has been the cause of countless accidents. Along the narrow road there are two escape lanes to handle runaway vehicles that suffer brake failures. This card is postmarked 20 July 1927.

 

My last postcard is another colorized bird's eye-view photo captioned, "The Steep Gradient of Porlock Hill (1 in 4)". The road is paved with center marking lines as two automobiles follow a bus. A house with a front garden is just on the edge of a bend in the road, no doubt serving occasionally as an emergency safety net. 

This postcard was sent from Minehead, Somerset on 9 May 1956 at 8:30 PM to P.C. & Mrs. Rands of the village of Crick in in West Northamptonshire near Rugby. 

Wednesday

    We are having a lovely

holiday & enjoying the 

beautiful scenery.  I think

you will remember this

hill.  We came down it

in the old car but sighed

with relief when we got to the

bottom.  The weather today

is dull & rainy but up to 

now its been warm &

sunny.

            Kindest regards

            B & D Pattison

I have never been to Porlock or Exmoor but I have driven many times in just about every other part of the British Isles. It began many years ago when my bride and I set off from London for a honeymoon trip to the Hebrides off western Scotland. Until that day after our wedding I had actually never driven a car in Britain and I was far more nervous about driving than about getting married. And at the time my wife had never needed to drive car. However she did know the rules of British roads from cycling experience. (Her first driving lesson was behind the wheel of my Toyota truck, manual shift, on Georgia roads.) 

I soon learned several things about British roads. First, as best as I can tell, there are no straight roads anywhere that can go more than 5 or 10 miles without encountering a roundabout. Second, while traffic on motorways can be very fast, on the minor B-roads it is usually very, very, slow. And incredibly narrow. The big island of Britain is approximately 600 miles from the tiptop of Scotland to the southern Channel coast of England but driving that distance is not like an equivalent distance in America. In Britain every route is filled with twists and turns that require an expert navigator to figure out. Fortunately I married one. The beauty of roundabouts is that you can go round as often as you like until deciding which road to take, 

I presently live in western North Carolina, one of the mountainous regions of the United States, where our minor roads are both pretty twisty and often steep. But I can't think of any road that has a 1:4  gradient or is as celebrated on postcards as much as Porlock Hill and the Ship Inn have. I think these charming cards are all about the romance of adventure travel. It's one thing to brag about seeing a beautiful tropical beach or visiting a magnificent palace. But not many people can say I've driven, ridden, or walked up/down Porlock Hill and have the postcard to prove it. 

Promoting tourism is partly about making myths that linger on in collective memory. The original roadmakers in Porlock were probably only trying to save money by eliminating a few switchbacks. They'd be amazed to learn their precipitous road continues to captivate the imagination of British drivers today and still provide a cheap thrill just as it once did for tourists traveling on open stagecoaches. 

Porlock  

by Robert Southey (1774 – 1843)

 

                    Porlock! thy verdant vale so fair to sight,

                    Thy lofty hills which fern and furze imbrown,

                    The waters that roll musically down

                    Thy woody glens, the traveller with delight

                    Recalls to memory, and the channel grey

                    Circling its surges in thy level bay.

                    Porlock! I shall forget thee not,

                    Here by the unwelcome summer rain confined;

                    But often shall hereafter call to mind

                    How here, a patient prisoner, 'twas my lot

                    To wear the lonely, lingering close of day,

                    Making my sonnet by the alehouse fire,

                    Whilst Idleness and Solitude inspire

                    Dull rhymes to pass the duller hours away.

Robert Southey (1774 – 1843) was an English poet of the Romantic school, one of the so-called Lake Poets, and was Britain's Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. Among many things he wrote was the first published story of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears". He also visited Porlock and probably stayed at the Ship Inn where he enjoyed a pint or two of ale by its fire. 

In our wonderful modern era 
we can experience riding up Porlock Hill
from the comfort of our own computer screen.
Here is Extreme Hill Climb: Exmoor Coaster up Porlock Hill
filmed from the front of the coach by OrsomM.
For a thrill watch out for marker 4:28 when the driver
encounters an oil slick on a steep curve.

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday

where everyone is taking the bus.

Season's Greetings from Old Wien

 

For a holiday treat I present
best wishes of the winter season
from old Wien ~ Vienna
courtesy of my favorite Austrian postcard artist
Fritz Schönpflug (1873-1951).

 

  

May your favorite horse win every race next year!

fröhliche Weihnachten. 

postmarked 24 XII 1910 from Wien, Austria

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

Hoping you stay sure footed throughout the year. 

Glückliches Neujahr
 

Postmarked 1 December 1915 from Wien.

 

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

  Best wishes on those slippery slopes.

Glückliches Neujahr!

Postmarked 2 December 1910 (?) from Wien

 

 

 

* * * 

 

 

 

 

Wishing you festive fun and frolics to end the year!

Glückliches Neujahr

 

Never posted but stamped with the name
of a postcard dealer in Wien.

 

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

Let your dreams take flight in the new year!
 

Glückliches Neujahr!
 

postmarked 31 XII 1910 from Wien

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

 Remember to count your blessings
because then you'll never have reason to complain.

 

Postmarked 10 XII 1909 from Teplitz-Schönau,
now known as Teplice in the Czech Republic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday
where cold is just a state of mind.
Let us hope 2023
brings our world
real peace, hope, and love.

The Musical Pony

 

It's not commonly recognized
that horses like music.
But I can personally vouch
that horses are particularly
charmed by my instrument, the horn.
However, apparently some appreciate
the sound of a trombone too,
which is saying a lot
for equine standards of high culture.

But who knew that a horse
could accompany a trombone
on pedal accordions?

 

 

 

The spotted pony pictured on this postcard is intently focused on its part in an outdoor performance with a man who plays a small rotary valve trombone, that is curiously dampened by a mute in the bell. The pony stands on a Persian carpet with three or four large squeeze boxes in front of it that are each equipped with spring bellows and a pair of small brass horns. Both are dressed in formal wear, in as much the man is in white tie and tailcoat, and the horse has a fancy leather harness topped with a feather plume. Is it a circus act? How many tunes did the pony know?

There is no caption on the front which would be typical for an entertainer's promotional postcard, and no postmark or message on the back, except for the publisher:

Lübecker Lichtdruckanstalt Schmidt & Gebr. Böttcher.

So this duo languished in my unknown file folder until I found a second identical postcard that was posted from Lillehammer, Norway on 19 July 1913.

 

 

Lilleh. 19-7-13

Kjære Tante

Det er Ole, som gaar og ber om nogen vil skrive dette kort. Han indres saa paa kortet, som dri loute ham. Ham har varet i S. mer (?) vilde ned iggen, for ham likte sig visit bedre hjenne. Skal hilse fra dem alle.

Hilsen fra vesle Ole.

Dear Aunt

It is Ole, who goes and asks if someone wants to write this card. He is recognized as such on the card, which was drawn to him. He has stayed in S. more wildly down the bank, because he liked his visit better than her. Greetings from all of them.

Greetings from little Ole.

Alternate translations welcomed in the comments.

 

 

Is it possible that this message from Ole
was dictated by the pony pictured on the front?
 If it's talented enough to play duos with a trombonist,
then it's certainly possible that it had other skills.
Perhaps it could sing too.
 

 To demonstrate the musicality of horses
here is a YouTube video entitled
Serenading Wild Mustangs with my Trombone
from Farmer Derek.
Be patient until he adjusts the camera at 2:45.

 

 

 

 

 

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday
where people rarely
put the cart before the horse.